Hypocrisy

When the flood hit, my husband, Patrick Holmes, who was part of the rescue team, stood between me and his first love, Victoria Clarke, torn with hesitation written all over his face. Without thinking twice, I shoved the only lifebuoy into Victoria's arms. In my previous life, Patrick had handed the lifebuoy to me instead and stayed behind with Victoria, choosing to die alongside her. Just before they both drowned, rescuers arrived in the nick of time and pulled him out, but Victoria didn't make it—she drowned that day. After that, he devoted himself completely to me, taking care of me in every moment of our daily lives. I had thought that the disaster made him cherish me more, but I was wrong—so terribly wrong. While I was hospitalized, Patrick unplugged my oxygen tank himself. He hissed, "If you hadn't insisted on going home to rest that day, I wouldn't have been torn on who to save, and she wouldn't have died. Now, you'll atone to her in the afterlife." I struggled helplessly as my vision blurred and death crept in. Then, everything went dark. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the very day the flood began.

Rosalie Lardner has 19 chances to get Brandon Searle into bed. Succeed just once, and she wins. Fail all 19, and she loses the title of "Mrs. Searle" for good. This is the bet she made with Brandon's stepmother—a deal she signed with complete confidence. But unfortunately, she fails every single time. Eighteen attempts, 18 failures. Now, it all comes down to the 19th try.

A week before my death, my Alpha mate's childhood sweetheart Sarah returned to our pack. That night, he didn't come home. The next day, I received his mind-link. "I've purchased a mate-bond severing potion from the pack witch. Come home now so we can break our bond." In our pack, the Moon Goddess was very serious about mate bonds. Once two wolves chose to form a mate, the mate bond could not be severed, unless the witch's potion was used. This potion was very expensive, costing up to $500,000 per bottle. I smiled bitterly. He was very generous to sever the bond with me. I coughed twice before answering, "I'm in the healing center." His voice turned ice cold. "I don't care where you are. Even if you're about to die, you need to come back." I calmly replied, "Fine." He didn't know that I really was dying. Three years ago, during a rogue wolf attack, I blocked the silver dagger for him to protect him while he was unconscious. I was poisoned by silver and became weaker and weaker over the past three years. I only had one week left to live. On the day of my funeral, my mate was busy holding his marking ceremony with Sarah. Later, he knelt before my grave in pristine white ceremonial clothes, clutching my headstone and whispering through tears. "If there's another life after this one, I still want to marry you." That day was his marking ceremony with his childhood sweetheart. It was also my funeral.

Edward Sterling is playing in his university's freshman basketball tournament when my parents banish me abroad. My biological sister and my fiancée are both on the sidelines, cheering for him. That spotlight should've been mine. The jersey he's wearing, with a star player's autograph on it, was supposed to be my 14th birthday gift. Edward and I have been rivals for most of our lives. It never matters whether I'm right or wrong—the moment he plays the victim, my parents rush to defend him and scold me without hesitation. But I am their biological son! It's not until I die alone and sick in a foreign country that I finally understand one thing. If I ever get a second chance, I'll never again fight Edward for love that was never mine to begin with.

Eight years after running away pregnant, I found myself crossing paths with my ex-husband, Howard Quinn. His friends stared at me in surprise. "So, this is what you have become after leaving Howard? Reduced to a cleaner?" When I was six-months pregnant, I met with an accident. While I lay there, he was staying by the side of another woman, his so-called true love, in labor, never leaving her side. When I confronted him, in pieces, he looked at me bored and impatiently. "Don't be so jealous and petty. I have no time for you. As long as you behave, you'll always be Mrs. Quinn." I couldn't stand it any longer, so I ran away, staying away for eight long years. Now, those sharp eyes glared at me. "Have you had enough? If so, come home." What he didn't know was that my husband and daughter had already made dinner, waiting for me and my son to return home.

In my previous life, my brother and fiancé teamed up to sabotage my company for the sake of my so-called best friend. After I went bankrupt, they stood beside her watching me collapse in the pouring rain, laughing mockingly at my pathetic state. "Linda Turner, you look as pathetic as a drenched dog!" they sneered. When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the project bidding meeting three years earlier. In my previous life, when my company was just starting out, my brother and fiancé had warned me against using the Turner and Peterson family connections. They claimed it wouldn't be fair to others, but then turned around and handed projects to my best friend under various pretexts, just to see her smile. Now that I was back, I watched them secretly manipulating things just like before, giving my projects to my best friend. I finally gave up on them completely. When they found out I was leaving the country, my brother and fiancé set off fireworks all night, celebrating that they'd finally gotten rid of me, the burden. But three years later, at the Trada Corp's bidding meeting, I took the stage as the CEO's wife—and they couldn't hide the redness in their eyes.

On my son's fifth birthday, my Alpha mate allowed his childhood sweetheart Sarah to pick him up from school. I discovered through the tracking device on his watch that he was near the edge of the forest. Having heard reports of rogue wolves attacking in the area recently, I anxiously rushed over, determined to bring him back immediately. He refused to leave with me. While we were locked in this standoff, several rogue wolves burst from the treeline and attacked us. During the fight, I was wounded badly, blood streaming down my face, while I kept my son safely behind me, completely unharmed. But when my Alpha mate arrived to rescue us, he ran straight toward his childhood sweetheart who was hiding off to the side. "Aunt Sarah is a delicate Omega with no fighting ability, Dad. Save her first! Mom, you're so strong, just hold on a little longer!" my son called out. I watched them leave, a bitter smile forming on my lips. They all seemed to ignore the silver dagger piercing my heart as I protected my son. I was dying.

My husband’s childhood sweetheart pushed me off the cruise ship on purpose when she found out I was pregnant. I did not scream for help. Instead, I held onto my mother-in-law, who had fallen in too, and fought to survive. In my last life, I had screamed for help in the sea. My husband jumped in with others and saved both me and his mother. But his beloved ex, stained with blood, attracted a shark and was torn apart in the water. After she died, my husband said she deserved it for pushing me. He treated me with care and guilt, acting like the perfect husband. But when the baby was born, he killed him. "It is your fault, you wretch. I lost the woman I loved because of you. Now it is your turn to feel that pain!” I used everything I had left to drag him to death with me. When I opened my eyes again, I was back in the ocean—right before it all happened.

My mate Garrett inherited the Alpha position after his brother, the former Alpha of the Silver Claw Pack, was killed in the war against the Rogue wolves. And along with it, he inherited his sister-in-law Sarah. From that day forward, he gave me his love, but gave his resources and privileges to his sister-in-law. He claimed she would face cruelty from pack members without the protection of an Alpha, so he took her to Moonhaven Sanctuary—the most secure settlement in the entire Northern Territory—while leaving me behind in the abandoned, low-ranking wastelands of our pack. Every month, he wrote me five letters expressing his longing and affection, yet gave all hunting spoils and money to his sister-in-law. When Rogue wolves invaded, my mate dispatched the pack's strongest forces to protect her and her two children, while my two pups didn't even wait for my return from the hunt. They died cold and hungry, torn apart and devoured by Rogue wolves. Later, I finally managed to wait for my mate Garrett's return. He didn't shed a single tear for our children and told me he wanted to break our bond. "Ember, Sarah can’t keep Luna position anymore so that she can't enjoy the privileges that come with it. My brother died protecting me, so I must protect his widow and her children. " "Don't worry, once her children grow up safe and strong enough, I'll break the bond with her and re-establish our mate bond, because I only love you." He continued. The backlash from the broken bond tortured me until I was barely alive, and I ended my own life. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the day my pups were brutally killed. This time, I didn't leave my children to go hunting. Instead, I took them with me to claim everything that rightfully belonged to us...

Lewd videos of my best friend, Katie Anderson, are suddenly leaked online, and I defend her in public. However, Katie ends up accusing me of leaking the videos in the first place. All of a sudden, the entire Internet turns against me. I get blacklisted by the whole entertainment industry and get cyberbullied online as well. Katie's die-hard fans abduct Mom by throwing a sack over her head and record lewd videos of her, driving her to so much shame she jumps off a building and dies. Meanwhile, Dad drinks rat poison and dies next to Mom's grave. After my family is torn apart, I ask Katie why she wants to frame me for everything. She replies, "Samael is the richest heir in the city. This is his fetish. You were the one who made everything into a big fuss. Of course, it's you who'll have to bear the responsibility for everything!" Samael Crews slinks his arm around Katie's waist and looks at me with a mocking smile on his face. "Did you think you were just trying to help out a fellow woman? Sorry, ex-girlfriend, but your precious bestie here is nothing more than an obedient lapdog of mine!" I end up being sold to Meowmar and eventually die from mistreatment. When I open my eyes again, I realize that I am reborn on the day that Katie accuses me of leaking her lewd videos online. This time, I choose to ignore her completely.